REG - Great Portland Ests. - GPE announces a new circular economy target

Great Portland EstatesAnnouncement

25/11/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 3957N  Great Portland Estates PLC  25 November 2024

Date: 25 November 2024

 

GPE announces a new circular economy target in the form of a Circularity Score

 

To help us meet our challenging carbon reduction targets to reach net zero
carbon by 2040 and reduce the embodied carbon of our developments and
refurbishments by 52% by 2030, we must continue to find innovative ways to
reduce our emissions. Minimising the quantity of virgin materials used in our
schemes is one such way, demonstrated by us, through our pioneering re-use of
steel from one of our deconstructed buildings into our scheme at 30 Duke
Street, St. James's.

 

Today, we are committing to accelerate our pioneering approach through the
implementation of a Circularity Score(1), measuring the percentage of reused
materials incorporated into our developments and major refurbishments(2).
Schemes that commence after 1 April 2025 will target a minimum Circularity
Score of 40%, rising to 50% for those starting after 1 April 2030. Our
longer-term aspiration is to achieve greater than 60% circularity on all new
schemes by 2040.

 

Our developments at 2 Aldermanbury Square in the City and 30 Duke Street, St
James's are testament to our innovative approach. 1,700 tonnes of steel were
identified for re-use from our original building at Aldermanbury Square before
deconstruction and this steel is currently being repurposed for use at our
development in St James's. This initiative has been a catalyst to refining our
approach to creating "circular buildings" with a dramatically reduced
percentage of virgin materials needed to create the high quality, low carbon,
climate-resilient buildings and places that our customers and communities
deserve and expect.

 

In the absence of an industry agreed measurement process, in order to meet our
Circularity Score targets, we will:

·      Through innovative design, retain and reuse as much of the
existing building as practicable

·      Recover and reuse elements of the building for use elsewhere in
our portfolio or make them available to the wider industry if not reusable on
the donor site

·      Maximise the quantity of materials in the scheme that have been
repurposed or reused, including recycled content(3,4)

 

To help stimulate the innovation needed, we will be convening circularity
focus groups with our supply chain, seeking ways to catalyse the circular
economy and materials reuse.

 

Toby Courtauld, Chief Executive, said:

"Our new Circularity Score will challenge us to innovate further and faster
than ever before as well as stimulating the growth of a deeper and better
functioning market for reused materials. We also expect that our actions will
encourage a more valuable and nuanced debate on what constitutes truly
sustainable development rather than the currently polarised discussion around
retrofit versus new build."

 

Janine Cole, Sustainability & Social Impact Director, said:

"This is just the first stage of the process. We will regularly revisit our
Circularity Score and intend to develop reuse targets for specific building
components with the assistance of our supply chain circularity focus groups.
We will use these secondary targets to reduce reliance on recycled content to
achieve our targets. Further, we will publicly disclose our building scores
for our onsite developments and methodology as part of our reporting
obligations in May 2025. We firmly believe that measurement supports improved
management and that early action to stimulate innovation in our marketplace is
essential. We expect, as with embodied carbon, that consensus will emerge on
the measurement of circularity and look forward to continued collaboration
with the wider industry as we learn and progress."

Notes to Editors

 

1.     To measure % circularity we are including quantity of materials
that have been retained /reused (either from the existing site or wider
market). We will also include the proportion of a new material that is derived
from recycled content.

2.     These targets apply to our large HQ developments, major
refurbishments and whole building flex projects, excluding Cat B fit out (see
note 5), collectively known as 'schemes'.

3.     Circularity Score targets will be set when we commit to projects
and our performance against the target will be measured at practical
completion.

4.     Whilst the quantity of materials redistributed to the wider
industry (as a result of deconstruction) is not included within our
Circularity Score, this will be measured separately and publicly disclosed.

5.     At this stage, our targets do not apply to on-floor fit outs,
however we are in the process of developing similar targets for these
projects.

6.     For our schemes currently on-site, early indications show
Circularity Scores ranging from 25% (new build) -55% (refurbishments).

 

 

 Great Portland Estates plc                                                                                                                                                                                +44  (0)  20  7647   3000
 Toby Courtauld, Chief Executive
 Nick Sanderson, Chief Financial & Operating Officer
 Janine Cole, Sustainability & Social Impact Director

 Frank Blande, Senior Sustainability Lead

 FGS Global
 James                                                                                                                                                                                                     +44  (0)  20  7251  3801
 Murgatroyd
 Gordon
 Simpson

 

For further information see www.gpe.co.uk or follow us on X at @GPE_London

LEI Number: 213800JMEDD2Q4N1MC42

 

 

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